Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Abdelhamid Abaaoud (1987-) was a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent who was the leader of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) cell in Belgium. He was arrested in Greece on 17 January 2015.

Biography
Abdelhamid Abaaoud was born in 1987 in Belgium of Moroccan descent. Abaaoud pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015 and became the leader of an IS cell in Belgium, possibly having returned from fighting in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Abaaoud masterminded a plot to kill Belgian police officers in the country in revenge for their involvement in the Operation Inherent Resolve coalition against the Islamic State (and also to coincide with the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo Massacre and Porte de Vincennes hostage crisis). However, on 15 January 2015 two of the members of his cell (Redouane Hagaoui and Tarik Jadaoun) were killed in a police raid on their apartment in Verviers, and Abaaoud attempted to flee to Greece. He was arrested in the Pangrati district of Athens with three other Islamists, and fingerprints and DNA samples were sent to Belgium to confirm his capture.